African-American Jews

African-American Jews are people of mixed Jewish-African-American background or African Americans who are both born Jewish and who have converted to Judaism.

The American Jewish community includes Jews with African American background. Black Jews belong to each of the major American Jewish denominations—Orthodox, Conservative, Reform—and to the smaller movements as well. Like their white Jewish counterparts, there are also Black Jewish secularists and Black Jews who may rarely or never take part in religious practices.

Robin Washington, an American journalist and filmmaker, became to be one of three founders of the National Conference of Black Jews, later called the Alliance of Black Jews. It was conceived to build bridges among all African-American Jews, who are affiliated with many different groups. Estimates of the number of Black Jews in the United States range from 20,000 to 200,000.

There are several predominantly black synagogues in The United States, such as Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, which is a synagogue in Chicago, Illinois. The congregation leader of Beth Shalom is Rabbi Capers Funnye. Assistant rabbis are Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter. The congregation, which has about 200 members, is mostly African American. The congregation was started by Rabbi Horace Hasan from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, in 1918 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Settlement Workers Association, and was influenced by Wentworth Arthur Matthew's Commandment Keepers.

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